There is no need to pre-pay to be on this list, but it gives us a good indication of sizes required, and those on the list will be given priority when that new run is ready. We should have more information on the timing of the run in the next week or so.

Separately, I've also clarified a few things about alterations.

I know that I am above average height, and that therefore the coat might be a little too long for some people. This is easy to alter, as the coat is unlined (and the removable lining considerably shorter than the full coat).

At least 10cm can be taken off the length of the coat without causing any issues.

Private White VC offer a great service in their store for this, or it can be done by a local alterations tailor.

The sleeves can also be shortened, but only by about 1.5cm.

More than this and the end of the sleeve gets too close to the cuff flap and will look odd. But 1.5cm will make a noticeable difference.

Both could be options considered by those 38 people that have bought coats so far. Everyone should receive them this week.

Lastly, Private White VC do offer both MTM and bespoke services - the former at 20% above retail price, and the latter at 70% above. With MTM you can change most sizing, widths, lengths etc. With bespoke you can basically redesign it, with different materials, pockets and so on. Contact them through their website for details.

Hi Simon, Might be that I’m not a native english speaker, but the way that last phrase is put, it’s not entirely clear that the MTM and bespoke option is valid for your version as well rather than in general, just a heads up. Coat looks marvelous.

completly off topic, but the last pic of you here smiling into the camera made me realize it again: your tie knot sits perfectly in between your shirt collar. I recognized that my tie knot (four in hand) won`t stay in that place for a long time. Instead it keeps slipping down just a bit showing just a little bit of the shirt beneath. I tried several ties but haven`t found a satisfying solution yet. Do you know what causes this and what can be done to avoid it? My shirt collars neither feel to tight nor to loose.

It’s usually a combination of a few things: – The texture of the tie. The slippier the material, the more it will slip – Being tied tightly enough (not into the neck, but the knot itself – the front blade not the back blade) – The knot (dimples help, a bit) – The angle of the collar (rather than size). The geometry of the collar in relation to your neck can mean that it’s pushing the tie up rather than down – The tie being high enough in the collar band of the shirt (put your fingers either side of the knot and lift up the tie silk)

Thanks Simon for the heads up! Today I saw the material in person and gained an idea of the practicality. I pressed Ahead with the MTO option as I’m a little short in the arms. I stuck with the Dark Olive even though a voice in my head was saying Navy. I thought I’d give Navy a break, the fabric is sufficiently dark enough to not stain easily and the cut is nice. I liked the belt features, seems better and more masculine than having to tie a little bow with my Burberry trench which is so short it would only be practicable if I took to wearing mini skirts. The colour and style isn’t so loaded with connotation that people will immediately cry “Oui Clooooosooooe” when I enter a room.

The sales representative was attentive and appeared confident in what he was doing. Something I’ve found lacking in my fellow countrymen who work in clothing.

This looks like a fantastic garment and a welcome innovation, one I might certainly try out myself in the near future. Trench coats have actually been a bit of a personal fascination of mine and I would like to hear your opinion on the quality of construction of makers such as Private White compared to Burberry or Aquascutum, irrespective of their prices.

There isn’t that much to the quality of construction – in that it’s all just machine sewn, usually with pretty decent hardware. The key point of difference is just a cotton gabardine with some of the Burberry/Aquascutum, as opposed to Ventile, which wears in better and is more waterproof.

Initially we had a pre-order list, and I asked everyone to order by a certain date so that I knew what stock we needed to get from the factory.

When they had done that, and the date had passed, I made an order from the factory for that amount plus a dozen more spread across the various sizes. What you can see now on the shop is availability of the coat in those various sizes, which we are waiting to come in.

So you are now limited by that coming stock, rather than a date. I hope that makes sense!

Simon, after a consultation with my local alteration tailor, we’ve managed to shorten the cuff significantly more than the 1.5 inch prescribed, by opening the seams at the cuff and cutting off the excess length from there.

Obviously this had an impact on the positioning of the cuff strap; so we decided to simply cut the poppers off, mask the holes left by the poppers with a length of excess cloth, reinstall a new popper (the tailor managed to source something identical to the PWVC one, in copper) along with the strap higher up the arm.

The end result was impressive. The holes left by the poppers were nicely hidden under a rectangular piece of excess cloth, with stitching done in a thread of same colour as found elsewhere in the garment. Indeed the modification is pretty much unnoticeable to the casual observer.

Shame I can’t attach a picture here. I believe this will be a good solution to a common problem encountered by readers in this post.

Simon, the armholes on this trench are HUGE. I know they are meant to help accommodate a jacket underneath, but even then they do not have to be this large and low. I could fit a thick leather jacket underneath, layered on top of a few knit pieces, and still have excess in the sleeves…

Considering how you envisioned with trench to be a versatile piece wearable both with and without a jacket, I would consider a slightly slimmer sleeve and higher armhole advisable, much like what you do with your overcoat shoulders – a little tight with a jacket, a little excess without.

Hi Simon, I recently acquired the trench- it is fantastic albeit bigger than my other PWVC jackets in the same size – is that what you requested?

So, I’d need to shorten sleeves, more so than my other PWVC jackets- possibility more than 1.5cm. Do you know if they can shorten via the shoulders given it is set in and raglan sleeves? If they can ,do you also recommend me slimming down the sleeves as well?

Thanks. No, the sizing should be similar, as it is exactly the same in the body as the PWVC despatch coat. Perhaps they sized that one slightly differently to their other coats.

Altering via the shoulders would be hard, given the different sleeves as you say. I’d recommend doing from the bottom – perhaps start with 1.5cm, so you’re just below the wrist flap, and then jump above that if you have to. Have a think about the amount carefully first though.